This week, we will continue looking at significant 1st and 2nd round draft picks that were traded and see how the return worked out for each team from the West.

There were some pretty big trades over this period from Western teams and while it might not be fair to say that teams would have picked the same player in the spot that the team who made the pick, we can still draw judgment on who they might have had.

2019 to 2020

2019 Entry Draft Picks Traded

Nashville traded P.K. Subban to the New Jersey Devils for Steven Santini, Jeremy Davies, a 2nd round pick in 2019 (#34 overall – Bobby Brink) and a 2nd round pick in 2020 (#37 overall Marat Khusnutdinov)

Subban played three seasons with the Devils, dressed for 189 games, and had 59 points. His salary cap hit was $9 million AAV.

The Predators sent the #34 overall pick Bobby Brink to Philadelphia for a 2nd round pick (#45 overall Egor Afanasyev) and a 3rd round pick (#65 overall Alexander Campbell) in 2019.

Alexander Campbell just turned pro after three years at Clarkson University and one at Northeastern. In his last year at Northeastern, he had 22 goals and 20 assists in 36 games. He played nine games in the AHL with three goals at the end of 2023-24.

Afanasyev has played the past three seasons in the AHL where he has dressed in 187 games and put up 113 points. That has earned him some looks in Nashville where he has played in 19 games and had one goal. In 2023-24, he had his best output in the AHL, with 27 goals and 27 assists in 56 games.

Santini played two games for the Predators in 2019-20 with no points.

Davies played 22 games over two seasons for Nashville and had three assists.

The trade tree grew again in 2020 (we will pick it up there), but this was fairly good value for Subban who was a step below what he had been and with his huge salary to boot. The Predators did well here.

St. Louis Blues traded Patrik Berglund, Vladimir Sobotka, Tage Thompson, a 1st round pick in 2019 (#31 overall Ryan Johnson) and a 2nd round pick in 2021 (#49 overall Ben Roger)

O'Reilly couldn't have worked out any better for the Blues than he did as they won the Stanley Cup in his first season there in 2018-19 and he was awarded the Conn Smythe trophy as the playoff MVP. He ended up playing 327 games with the Blues and had 269 points in the regular season to go along with 49 points in 51 playoff games.

The price was steep as they gave up Tage Thompson who has emerged as a star in the league after he had 47 goals and 47 assists in 78 games in 2022-23. He has 244 points in 331 games as a member of the Sabres.

Berglund ended up playing just 23 games in Buffalo where he had four points.

Sobotka played 85 games in Buffalo and had 16 points.

Johnson played 41 games as a rookie defender for the Sabres in 2023-24 and had seven points, but struggled at times and was limited in ice time.

These are the types of trades where the steep price was worth it as it got the Blues over the top for their first and only Stanley Cup.

Anaheim Ducks traded Brandon Montour to the Buffalo Sabres for Brendan Guhle and a 1st round pick in 2019 (#29 overall Brayden Tracey)

Guhle played just 42 games for the Ducks over three seasons and managed four goals and five assists. He last played in Germany in 2022-23.

Tracey has played parts of four seasons in the AHL and has played 184 games with 84 points to show. His offense has regressed and his one NHL game might be it.

I'm not sure that Anaheim or Buffalo knew what they had in Montour as he has flourished in Florida since 2020-21.

Montour could be a case study in patience and/or deployment.

Los Angeles Kings traded Jake Muzzin to the Toronto Maple Leafs for Carl Grundstrom, Sean Durzi and a 1st-round pick in 2019 (#22 overall Tobias Bjornfot)

Muzzin had two years remaining on his contract when the Kings traded him to Toronto, which partially explains the value they received back. Muzzin was at the top of his game when the Kings dealt him and was a very solid top-four defender. He has played just 187 games for Toronto over six seasons and put up 81 points. He missed all of the 2023-24 season after playing just four games in 2022-23.

Grundstrom has played 236 games for the Kings over six seasons and put up 40 goals and 27 assists. He has struggled to become an everyday player and has never played more than 57 games in a year.

Durzi played two years in Los Angeles, getting into 136 games and putting up 65 points. The progression of Jordan Spence and Brandt Clarke allowed the Kings to trade Durzi to Arizona in 2023 for a 2nd round pick in 2024.

Bjornfot got plenty of opportunity with the Kings over five seasons there as he played 117 games over that period with just 15 points. He was put on waivers in 2023-24 and has ended up in Florida.

Unfortunately for the Kings, the 2019 draft was not the strongest, especially for defensemen.

Arizona Coyotes traded a 1st round pick in 2019 (#14 overall Cam York) and a 2nd round pick in 2019 (#45 overall Egor Afanasyev) to the Philadelphia Flyers for a 1st round pick in 2019 (#11 overall Victor Soderstrom)

The trades to move up in a draft tend to only work out if the team moving up hits a home run. In a weaker draft like 2019, this one cost the Coyotes.

Soderstrom has played 53 NHL games over parts of four years with the Coyotes with 11 points. In 170 AHL games, he has 82 points. He will need to clear waivers in 2024-25 with Utah but he is not a lock to make the roster.

York established himself as a top-four defender in 2023-24 with the Flyers, averaging 22:38 per game and putting up 10 goals and 20 assists in 82 games to go along with 175 blocks. Utah would be pretty happy to have him in their lineup.

Add in the 2nd round pick and this was a big miss by the Coyotes in 2019.

Colorado Avalanche traded Matt Duchene to the Ottawa Senators for Andrew Hammond, Shane Bowers, a 1st round pick in 2019 (#4 overall Bowen Byram) and a 3rd round pick in 2019 (#63 overall Matthew Stienburg)

Even though this was a three-way trade made in 2017, I'm going to break it down into two parts which both involve Colorado.

I'm sure neither Ottawa nor Colorado envisioned that the 1st round pick would end up being the 4th overall pick in the draft and that the Avalanche would have a shot at the lottery pick which ended up being Jack Hughes.

Hammond played one regular season game for Colorado and three playoff games as an unrestricted free agent.

Bowers played one NHL game for Colorado in 2022-23 and was traded to New Jersey.

Byram was the real jewel to this return from Ottawa but struggled with some concussion issues in his first few NHL campaigns. He played 146 games for Colorado and had 63 points. He was traded to the Buffalo Sabres in 2024 for Casey Mittelstadt.

Duchene was coming off a disappointing 18 goals and 23 assists in 77 games in 2016-17 and he was making $6 million AAV with two years remaining. The Avalanche needed cap space and felt Duchene was expendable. If we break down part one, they ended up with Mittelstadt for Duchene, which seems like great value. Part two below is just gravy.

Nashville Predators traded Vladislav Kamenev, Samuel Girard and a 2nd round pick in 2018 (#58 overall Filip Hallander) to the Colorado Avalanche and they received Kyle Turris from the Ottawa Senators

On the surface, this portion of the trade still doesn't make sense that Colorado would receive this return from Nashville, but there were some salary considerations that the Avalanche needed to make for this deal to work for both Ottawa and Nashville.

Kamenev ended up playing 64 games for the Avalanche over three years and put up three goals and 10 assists. He went back to the KHL after 2019-20.

Girard has played 470 regular season games and had 196 points while also playing 59 playoff games and putting up 25 points.

Colorado won the Stanley Cup in 2022 AND this trade improved them for the future as well. An unbelievable trade in hindsight.

2020 Entry Draft Picks Traded

Edmonton Oilers traded Sam Gagner, a 2nd round pick in 2020 (#45 overall Brock Faber) and a 2nd round pick in 2021 (#52 overall Aatu Raty) to the Detroit Red Wings for Andreas Athanasiou and Ryan Kuffner

Gagner played 129 games over three campaigns with Detroit and had 47 points. He has been a member of the Edmonton Oilers three different times.

Athanasiou played nine games down the stretch with Edmonton and had two points and he went pointless in four playoff games. The Oilers were knocked out in the first round.

Kuffner never played an NHL game with Edmonton.

Brock Faber just completed his rookie season in the NHL and had 47 points in 82 games and will more than likely be the Calder Trophy runner-up to Connor Bedard in 2023-24. Not that Edmonton would have necessarily picked Faber, but he sure would look good on that blueline for them.

San Jose Sharks traded a 2nd round pick in 2020 (#34 overall JJ Peterka) to the Buffalo Sabres for a 2nd round pick in 2020 (#38 overall Thomas Bordeleau) and a 4th round pick in 2020 (#100 overall Carter Savoie)

This deal is still early to declare a winner, but Peterka just had 28 goals and 22 assists in 82 games in Buffalo and has arrived. The Sabres traded up for him and the Sharks picked Bordeleau at #38 but his arrival in the NHL has taken a little longer but seems imminent in 2024-25. In 43 NHL games with San Jose, he has six goals and 12 assists.

The 4th round pick in 2020 was traded to Edmonton.

This is leaning positively for the Sabres moving up four spots and focusing on the shortfalls of the Shark’s amateur scouting as they picked Ozzy Wiesblatt with the 31st overall pick in 2020 over Peterka as well.

Anaheim Ducks traded Ondrej Kase to the Boston Bruins for David Backes (retained salary $1.5M), Axel Andersson and a 1st round pick in 2020 (#27 overall Jacob Perreault)

Kase played six games down the stretch for Boston and had one point before playing 11 playoff games and putting up four assists before the Bruins were eliminated in the second round.

Andersson played 84 AHL games for the Ducks with 20 points before heading back to the SHL in Sweden in 2023-24.

Backes played 21 games over two seasons for Anaheim with seven points before retiring.

Perreault was traded to Montreal in 2024 for Jan Mysak who was the 48th overall pick in 2020.

Anaheim missed out on Mavrik Bourque, JJ Peterka, Luke Evangelista and Brock Faber.

The Calgary Flames traded a 1st round pick in 2020 (#19 overall Braden Schneider) to the NY Rangers for a 1st round pick in 2020 (#22 overall Hendrix Lapierre) and a 3rd round pick in 2020 (#72 overall Jeremie Poirier)

The Calgary Flames traded a 1st round pick in 2020 (#22 overall Hendrix Lapierre) to the Washington Capitals for a 1st round pick in 2020 (#24 overall Connor Zary) and a 3rd round pick in 2020 (#80 overall Jake Boltmann)

The Flames moved down twice from the 19th overall pick to the 24th overall pick and added two 3rd-round picks.

Zary had a very good rookie year in 2023-24 with 14 goals and 20 assists in 63 games.

Lapierre has played 57 games for Washington and has nine goals and 14 assists.

Schneider has played 206 games for the Rangers and has 48 points. In 2023-24 he averaged 15:54 per night and had 162 hits and 133 blocks.

Poirier has played 92 AHL games and has 54 points as an offensive defender. He was injured for most of 2023-24 and played just 23 games.

The Flames appear to have known who they wanted with Zary and got a chance at two third-rounders. This trade might have been a win-win for everyone.

The Vancouver Canucks traded Marek Mazanec, a 3rd round pick from 2019 (#71 overall Hugo Alnefelt) and a 1st round pick from 2020 (#20 overall Shakir Mukhamadullin) to the Tampa Bay Lightning for J.T. Miller

Mazanec headed back to Czechia without playing a game or signing with the Lightning.

Alenefelt is a 22-year-old goalie playing in the AHL for Tampa Bay who has played one NHL game and 86 AHL ones. In 2023-24, he played 30 games with a record of 14-8-4 and a save percentage of 89.3.

Mukhamadullin is now in San Jose after the 20th overall pick was sent to New Jersey for Blake Coleman by the Lightning. He has played three NHL games for the Sharks with one assist and 67 AHL games with 44 points. He could be a top-four defender in the NHL.

This trade seems like such a bargain for Miller now that he has had seasons of 99 and 103 points while with the Canucks. He had 13 goals and 34 assists in 75 games in his last campaign in Tampa Bay.

The Arizona Coyotes traded Nick Merkley, Nathan Schnarr, Kevin Bahl, a 1st round pick in 2020 (#18 overall Dawson Mercer) and a 3rd round pick in 2021 (#75 overall Ryder Korczak) to the New Jersey Devils for Taylor Hall ($3 million retained) and Blake Speers

Taylor Hall was an impending UFA when this trade occurred and he ended up playing just 35 regular-season games for the Coyotes with 27 points and nine playoff games with six points. Arizona lost in the second round of the playoffs.

I remember being baffled at the time of the trade in 2019, as I didn't think that the team had a chance to re-sign Hall and it was an awful lot to give up for a one-year rental.

Blake Speers played two games for the Coyotes in 2021-22.

Merkley was the 30th overall pick in 2015 who played just 41 NHL games and had four goals and 11 assists. He has spent the past two years in the KHL.

Shnarr didn't see any NHL games and played 2023-24 in the Finnish Liiga where he had 50 points in 51 games.

Bahl has played 148 NHL games with New Jersey and had 25 points. In 2023-24 he played 82 games, had 11 points, 152 hits and 103 blocks while averaging 17:24 per game.

Dawson Mercer is the key to this deal as he has put up 20 goals twice in a row and has now played 246 NHL games with the Devils with 64 goals and 67 assists. He has career-highs of 27 goals and 56 points and is still 22 years old.

This trade still confuses me close to five years later.

The San Jose Sharks traded Dylan DeMelo, Chris Tierney, Rudolfs Balcers, Josh Norris, a 1st round pick in 2020 (#3 overall Tim Stutzle), a 2nd round pick in 2021 (#39 overall Zach Ostapchuk) and a 2nd round pick in 2019 (#44 overall Jamieson Rees) to the Ottawa Senators for Erik Karlsson and Francis Perron

Doug Wilson made some questionable moves as the GM of the San Jose Sharks and this trade was one of them.

In Karlsson's first four seasons as a member of the Sharks, he never played more than 56 games. In 2022-23, he did break out for 25 goals and 76 assists in 82 games and won the Norris Trophy before being traded to Pittsburgh that summer.

Karlsson ended up playing 293 games in San Jose and had 52 goals and 191 assists. The Sharks made it to the Semi-Finals in 2018-19 which was the only time they made the playoffs during Karlsson's time there.

Francis Perron didn't play an NHL game and played in France in 2023-24.

When the Sharks traded DeMelo, he was averaging 14-15 minutes per game and a sixth or seventh defender. Fast forward to 2023-24 and he was in Winnipeg and played 82 games with 31 points, 164 hits, 139 blocks and averaged 21:44 per game.

Tierney was a solid 3rd line forward when the trade happened and managed his career-high of 48 points his first year in Ottawa where he played 277 games and had 123 points.

Balcers played 52 games in Ottawa and had 17 points before being picked up on waivers and joining San Jose again in 2020-21.

Norris was the 19th overall pick in 2017 and has struggled with shoulder injuries since the trade. He has played 183 games with Ottawa and has 70 goals and 123 points. He had 35 goals in 66 games in 2021-22 but has only managed to play 58 games since then.

The 22-year-old Stutzle is a star in the making who had 90 points in 78 games in 2022-23 and has played 285 games in Ottawa with 247 points.

Zack Ostapchuk is a soon-to-be 21-year-old forward who has played seven NHL games. He projects to be a solid third or fourth-line forward.

Next week, we will continue with 2021 forward. When I started this, I didn't think there would be that many significant trades involving early draft picks.

Thanks for reading and if you have any questions or players you'd like me to look at please message or follow me on Twitter @gampbler15.